Mattress, cushion, and seat



May 22, 1923..

C. C. MEUTSCH MATTRESS, CUSHI-ON, AND SEAT Filed Feb. 24, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 22, 1923.

C. CI` MEUTSCH MATTRESS, CUSHION, AND SEAT Filed Feb. 24 1920 2 Sheets-*Sheet 2 Patented Map2?, i923.,

@EEES C. LTSCH, UF BUFFLG, El YIRE,

mATlElES, CUQHION, AND SEAT..

Application niet February lining, and preventing adjacent springs from le contacting with each other in their operative position, which pockets have heretofore been made from strips ot abric folded lengthwise centrally ol their width, with their folds secured together by parallel lines 2o of stitching passing therethrough at a right angle to their length at a predetermined distance 'apart for forming integrally closed connected pockets in series and open at one end for the insertion of a spring.

With all of the advantages possibly attributable to the construction of articles of manufacture above referred to, provided with spring containin pockets closely connected and in series tgrom folded strips of fabric, as above described, there still remains the objection that each spring must.

be inserted endwise, normally compressed against the closed end of its poclret, and so maintained, before it is possible to close the open end of the pocket upon the spring by bringing its free edges together as must be, for locating and inserting therethrough a line of stitching'usually employed for permanently closing the open end of the pocket 40 against the end of the strips.

Owing to the necessity of, and the skilland experience required for compressing and so maintaining the springs in their respective pockets itor permanently closing their open ends, manufacturers of these pockets before my invention have been compelled to 'permanently' confine the springs in the pockets, and ship the assembled strips in com pressed bundles for convenient handling, at not only an objectionable expense, but freuently to the injury of the springs, if not t e fabric of the pocket.4

The rime object of this invention broadly stated is to secure the several advantages atet ieee. seninl no. este.,

' tributable to the use kin mattresses, cushions and-seats, of pockets formed in series fro a folded strip of fabric enclosing and conning coiled springs in their o erative position against Contact with each ot er, and in addi tion thereto, by the smallest possible change therein, secure all of the 'advantages derived from permanently closing the open ends ot these pockets before the insertion of their springs; from the insertion of springs permanently .to their operative position and against accidental detachment, and their removal therefrom quickly and with ease when injured for 'the substitution oic other springs without the exercise oi" any special experience 'or slrill on the part of the assembler, either a man or child as may be, and vwhereby the springs and pockets may be Yseparately shipped to andassembled at their destination and at minimum expense.

lln the construction or mattresses, cush ions and seats, with spring containing pochet strips, it isthe common practice to arrange them in parallel rows with the springs directly opposing each other or else in staggered arrangement, and before my invention 'to closely connect the top coils ot adjacent springs with clips, or else by means or twines or tapes extending longitudinally and transversely across the surface of the pockets, through, ,and around the corners of the pockets, and the top coils of the sprin s, leaving the coils intermediatethe ends of t e springs free to bend laterally` in every direction.

When the top coils of the springs are so connected the force directly compressing any one or more springs is transmitted to all other springs and operates to laterally bend these other springs and tilt their top coils directly towards the compressed springs, with the result that these other springs are not only distorted, but that their tilted top coils exert a pressure against the occupant of the structure. v

As the example in a seat structure, the

occupant of less than the whole number oil springs soon discovers that the other springs are exerting a force, which is not only uncomfortable, but tends to move him forwardly from his seated position, with the result t at he either consciousl or unconsciously inclines his body forwar ly in eorts to obtain relief, that is to say, changes the angle a of his body from his natural seated posrtlon vsa to an unnatural position because of the .con-v stant pressure of springs'from every d1rec tion against the unseated portion of his body.

Furthermore, with the top colls of the sprin soconnected, with their remaming coils Iree to bend and movelaterally, as has been the common practice before my 1nvention, the structure asa whole 1s not adapted to prevent the displacement of the springs from their normal position following the exposure of either its opposing side n or end edges respectively to a laterally compressive orce, and asa result of which the structure is distorted in shape.

Another object of my invention therefore is to provide in a structure composed o closely connected springs in parallel rows, a means preventing the force compresslng any one or more springs from being transmitted to others in such structure, and the lateral bending and tilting of any of the springs, and which is further adapted for `sustaining and maintaining every spring normally in its upright position, and against displacement tending to distort as a whole the shape of the structure.

With these' ends in view, my invention finds its embodiment in certain feature of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, by which the said objects and certain other objects are obtained, as herein fully described with reference to the arcompanying drawings and more particularly to the claims.

ln said drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a mattress, cushion or seat as may be, in which my invention finds its embodiment, with a part thereof broken away;

F ig. 2 is a side elevation of a series of pocket strips, one of the pockets of which 1s slightly 1n perspective, of my invention;

` 3 is awperspective of the pockets containing my lnvention withv the springs located therein in their operative position;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of av mattress,v

cushion or seat structure shpwing the preferred arrangement of the lacing therefor;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing a modified arrangement of the lacings; and

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing a further modification -in the arrangement of the lac- 1110s.

tiimilar characters of reference 'indicate the sameparts in the several figures of the drawings.

ln carrying out my invention I may, as heretofore, employ a strip of fabric folded wupon itself at 8, with its free edges extending on a line parallel with the fold, and secured together by one or more transverse lines of stitching 9, dividing the folded strip mesma into a seriesof closely connected-pockets l0,

the free ends of the meeting edges of the i fabric of which are secured together by a line of stitching 11, permanently closing the pockets at their otherwise open ends, before the insertion of their coiled sprin l2.

In further carrying out my invention, every pocket is provided at one side lengthwise thereof, with an elongated slit 13 of sufficient length for inserting the coiled springs l2 to their operative position in the pockets, which may be performed without any previous experience or skill, by oomressing the springs between the thumb and ngers.

The ends of the slits 13 terminate inwardl from the closed ends of the thy ciently to enable the surroun ng sides of the pocket to confine the springs in their operative position against lateral movement pockets, as a means for stretching them.

smoothly across the ends of the springs and centering the springs in their operative position, as well as preventing lateral movement.

As shown in Fig.y 2, the meetingfedges of the folded fabric may be cut away to form scallops, so that after stitching them together and turning the folded strip inside out, a neat inturned seam 15 will be formed in the absence of surplus material, possibly preventing .the freedom lof the contraction and expansion of the springs in their pockets.,

From the foregoing it will now be apparent that with but a'small change in pockets heretofore formed from folded strips of fabric, my invention provides for the first time a means by which it is possible and .practical to dispense with the heretofore yin their pockets at their place of manufacture before shipping them, for substantially reducing thel cost of their transportation; the liability of injury to the springs in transit, and a means avoiding the objections heretofore made bypurchascrs to shipping the springs and pockets separately, and being compelled to assemble them for use at their destination,

In short, my inventionl provides for permanently closing both ends of the pockets at their place of manufacture; shipping them in closely packed bundles or bales, and with their spring in a very small compact bundle, so dense as to be substantially solid; accordingly convenient for handling in transit, and in a form best adapted to prevent www? j A j,

their being injured from any cause, at not more than a minimum expense for thepackingz and shipping charges therefor.

eferring now to that part of my lnvention for-preventing the force directlycompressing any one or more of the sprlngs from being transmitted to and tilting other springs, it is here noted that my invention provides for the separation of the ockets 1n the strips by two parallel rows o .stitchlng 9 9, separated suiiciently for locatin ybetween them a slot 16 for the passage t erethrough, about midway between theo ends, of one or more fab-ric strips adapted for maintaining the springs in their ockets 1n an upright position and a ainst orces laterally thereto, tending to istort the shape of the construction in which they are used. In Fig. 4, for example, two lacing strips are referably employed, one of which 18 is stitc ed at one end to the corner pocket 19, whence it extends through the slots -16 between the outer and adjacent row of pock.

ets, around the pocket 20, between the inner row 21 adjacent thereto, and thence between the last mentioned row and the adjacent outer row thereto, partly around the corner pocket 22, to which it is secured, and

xvwhich is located diagonally opposite the pocket 1-9, surrounding the outer sides of the side and end rows of the structure.

Shown in Fig. 4 is another and similar lacing 24, the ends of which meet, and are stitched through the opposing end of the lacing 18 and to the poc et as indicated at 25.

As shown in Fig. 5, however, separate lacing strips 26 may be used between each row, with their ends fastened respectively to the pockets at each end of the row and the several rows be surrounded by a lacing strip 27, the ends of which meet and are secured.

to the corner pocket 19, or, if preferred, to some one of the other three corner pockets. As shown in Fig. 6, a single strip 28 may be used both for lacing the rows of and surrounding the pockets by passing the strip from the corner pocket 29 across the end and thence along the side of the structure, to and around the corner pocket 30, thence between the outer ro-w and. adjacent inner row,- around the pocket'31 of the inner row, thence between the two inner rows land around the pocket 32, to and between said rows and the outer row, around the pocket 29 to-the pocket 30, and thereafter securing the ends of the strips by stitching 33 passing through the double thickness 'of strip to and through the pocket 29, and likewise securing the other end of the strip to the pocket 30 by stitching it therethrough, as

indicated at 34.

i of pockets together b or'more strips, respectively `securing substantially the same advantages due to the use of a single strip, and of using strips varying in length and reducing wastage accordingly, as might be if my invention were confined to the use of a lacing consisting of a single strip.

As a means for preventing the sagging of the lengthwise folds in the lacing, as -above described, the edges of the strip are knotted (see Fig. 3) by short pieces of twine to the edges of the ends of the fabricbetween adjacent springs, as indicated at 35, and pref` That portion of the lacing strip which surrounds the outside springs of the structure is preferably made slightly wider than the remaining portion and the other strips passing between the several rows of springs,

and yet so narrow that when tacked to the top and bottom edges of the pockets, the adjacent edges of the pockets will be drawn inwardly toward each other, as indicated in the. drawings, for permitting the strips to move to close contact with the edge of the outer covering for the springs, for pros ducing a soft spring edge, and prevent the coils of the spring from working through the cover.

The lacing strip and the strips passing between the rows of springs, as shown in the drawings, furnish a broad band preventing the coils between the ends of the springs from bending laterally; the coils of adjacent springs from passing between and interlockin with each other, and accordingly reducing their eiiiciency; dispense with any necessit for connecting the adjacent end coils o the springs; maintain every spring free to respond to a force directly compressing it, without transmitting that force to any other springs either adjacent or remote therefrom, and thereby provide for the use of springs confined in pockets in a structure comfortable to the occupant in every position his body may rest when either seated or lying thereon;

.For quickly and accurately locating the lines of stitching separating the pockets,

for the scalloped edges thereof, and for the land all this, of course, before folding the strip upon itself and inserting the stitching along the marked lines.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A device for the purpose described comprising in combination parallel rows of' vfabric pockets. a spring for each pocket permanently enclosed therein, and a. lacing separate from and extending lengthwise be- 'tween the several rows of pockets, and connected at intervals to and adjacent the ends of said pockets.

2. AfA device for the purpose described comprising in combination a v'series of pockets arranged in parallel`arrangement, a lacing strip of fabric separate therefrom, the width of which strip substantially corresponds with the length of the pockets, extending between and connectlng together the several rows, a means for connecting the edges of said strip tov and adjacent the ends of said pockets at intervals thereof, and which provides for an outside band enclosing the structure formed by said single rows` of pockets,

3. A device for the purpose described comprisin in combination pockets formed in series fgrom a folded strip of fabric, provided with parallel rows of stitchinn' extending transversely thereof, and with a slot located between said parallel rows of stitching, and a separate lacing strip extendin j between said rows and passing throng the slots of and aroundthe several rows of pockets, which said strip is adapted to maintain the springs' from bending laterally yand formA a binding strip surrounding and enclosing several rows of pockets, and prevent the coils of adjacent springs from projecting between each other.

4. A device for the purpose described comprising in combination a series of inte grally connected pockets formed from a folded strip of fabric, provided with parallel lines of stitching extending transversely of and connecting said folds,lthe connecting fabric' between which pockets is provided with an elongated' slot, a separate lacing .strip laterally extending substantially the distance between the ends of said pockets, secured at 4its top and bottom edges to the fabric connectin the pockets, a coiled spring permanent y enclosed in each of said pockets, which said lacing strip surrounds and encloses the several rows, and is stitched at its edges respectively to the pockets adjacent thereto towards the ends of said pockets.

5. A device for the purpose described comprising in combination a series of coiled springs, individual fabric pockets therefor,

the closed ends of which are in the form of 

